Light Bullets in 8x57

[Rummer]

Has anybody ever used the 150 grain class bullets in the 8x57 for deer?  Will bullets that short stabilize in a 1:9.5" twist?

John

[huntsman]

I haven't yet hit a deer with the 150 grain bullet, but I see no reason why it wouldn't perform similarly to the 150 grain bullets of other cartridges. It is heavy enough and moving at a good velocity, and it should do the job. The 150 grain bullet gives me pretty acceptible accuracy (less than 1.75" groups at 100 yards with no tweaking), so I think the twist rate is okay from my K98 (I don't know for sure what the twist rate is on a K98). I've even gotten decent accuracy, though not as good (2.25" groups) with the 125 grain bullet, which is super short.

Unless you are wanting less recoil from your 8mm, IMO there is nothing to gain from using the 150 grain bullet. The 185 grainers I use are just as accurate if not moreso, carry more downrange punch, and will penetrate better on tough shots. The trajectory is only minimally different inside 300 yards.

[Val]

I have two MilSurp Mausers (K98 & M48)  and a sporterized K98. None of them seem to like 150 grain pellets. They all like 200 grain bullets and the sporterized K98 likes 180 grain bullets as well as the 200 grain..

[Larry Gibson]

Rummer

"]Has anybody ever used the 150 grain class bullets in the 8x57 for deer?  Will bullets that short stabilize in a 1:9.5" twist?"

I've been shooting the 150 gr Hornady out of numerous Mausers of different makes for 25+ years.  They shoot just fine and are quite deadly on deer, etc.  I load them over 50 gr of H4895 (max listed load by Hodgdon but has been safe in all milsurp 8x57s) in Winchester cases.  I get 2870+/-  fps out of 3 Yugos and a couple other M98s.

Larry Gibson

[RaySendero]

Have a VZ-24 Mauser.  Load the 8x57 with bullets from 185 grain to 220 grain.  These shoot well with acuracy for about 1.5" at 100 yards.  If you are looking for a good and inexpensive all around load - Try the 185 grain CoreLokts.